{"id":2277,"date":"2023-01-30T22:57:43","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T22:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2023-01-30T22:57:43","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T22:57:43","slug":"urtina-hoxha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/urtina-hoxha\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Urtina Hoxha"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Interviewer: Thank you very much Urtina. Shall we start telling the story from when the family decided to run away? Where have you been? How do you remember that period of time?
\nUrtina Hoxha: Yes. We lived in Suhareka, in a two-story house. It was a pretty big house. In July 1998, the war situation started becoming tenser in our region. And in July there was a massacre in Rahovec. At that moment, my family no longer felt safe, they did not feel comfortable staying in Suhareka because it was too close to Rahovec. At that time, we had an aunt who lived in Lezha and she told us: I have space, you can come to us. So, don’t risk it, and don’t stay in Suhareka. And from July to the beginning of August, my family members were already dealing with documents, they had their passports ready. I know that I also got my passport for the first time ever maybe. And… but someone from the family couldn’t have it, couldn’t get the passport. I don’t know why, I think she was too young, I don’t know the exact reason, but the important thing is that she didn’t have a passport. I mean, we lived at home, me, my mom, my brother, and my sister. But we lived with our grandfather and grandmother. My three uncles and two aunts also lived with us. Also, my three uncles, my father, and two others were married and had children. One of my uncles had three sons, and the other uncle I think had only one girl… yes. On the other hand, my aunts and one of my uncles were not married at the time. So, we were a pretty big family and most of them are part of this story that I will now tell. So, in August 1998 …because they couldn’t go on the road to…
\nInterviewer: Yes, we were talking about August.
\nUrtina Hoxha: Yes, and in August 1998, due to the lack of a passport, it was not an option to go to Prizren, which is very close to Suhareka, an hour or so to cross the border with Albania. Because there were problems, my family members said that if someone did not have a passport from Kosovo in Albania they would cause a lot of problems. So, they chose an alternative path that was not… it was not legal, that is, illegal. So, from Suhareka they went to Brezovica. Then, from Brezovica, they went to Montenegro, to Ulqin, somewhere. Then, they stayed in Ulqin for a day or two, and mom says that they went to the beach and had a great time in Ulqin. Then, to go to Albania from Montenegro, they had to cross Buna. Here it was, it was a little more dangerous and we could not pass it on our own. So, they had to pay people to make this trip as safe as possible. And what we went through in Buna is one of the few memories I have. Because I was three and a half years old when this story happened. So, Buna is among the first and few memories I have. I remember that it had to be very dark to cross Buna because there were controls – there were lights to control that space, that area. We got on a very small boat. But we were too many people. It seemed to me… there was only my uncle and my mom with three children including me. There was also my uncle’s wife with her three children. So, there were a lot of women and children on that boat. They kept telling us that we shouldn’t talk, we should be very quiet. We had to go like that at extremely low levels and not stand up because those lights could catch us, they could see us. Then, when we got on the boat, we were… my uncle was the last person to get on, he was big, he was fat. And when he got on the boat, I know that he unbalanced the boat and I know that I was very scared at that moment because we might… I thought that we were going to roll over. And I remember that, that fear. And my mom, every time she talks about it, she always says that… I’m sure I hugged her or something to make myself feel more comfortable. After this point, we passed Buna. I don’t know how, but everything went okay. Those people who escorted us had to send us from Buna to cross the border of Albania and send us through, to the border… in Albania, exactly. Then, someone else had to come and pick us up. I have no information on this part and it is not that they talk much about this part. Everything went okay and as planned. But, around ten or eleven o’clock at night, we were already between Shkodra and Lezha. And we were in two cars. Actually… me, my mom, my brother Shpendi, and my aunt were in a small car. There was a driver ahead that my family paid to wait for us when we crossed the border. Plus there was another escort. In other words, my family has taken the greatest possible measures to make this entire trip extremely safe. That is, at each point there had to be someone waiting for us. He had to wait for us to send us from one point to another. But it didn’t happen. As a result, the journey was not safe. Then, in the other car, it was a van, there were too many people. I mean, it was my sister, my uncle’s three children, the other uncle’s wife who had a child, which I think… was one year old. She was a very small baby. Aunties… there were many people, plus those people who escorted us. Now, what has happened is that in Torovica, a place in the middle of the mountain, between Shkodra and Lezha, at that time Albania was in a kind of transition, a kind of strange state. So, many people came out in ambush, they… they were stopping the cars…
\nInterviewer: Mugging…
\nUrtina Hoxha: … they robbed them, they looted them, and this thing happened to us too, but the difference was that before we arrived, they already stopped a bus and looted it. But, I don’t know this part exactly, and neither do my parents… maybe they do, but from what they’ve told me it didn’t seem clear. Either they knew that the police were coming or they were… in some way they felt in danger for themselves because they knew that someone had noticed them and the police were coming. So, when they stopped my family’s cars, they didn’t rob them, they didn’t loot them, I mean, but they shot guns at our cars. They had slightly bigger guns, machine guns, or something, and they just kept shooting. But once again the drivers who were driving the cars did not stop but drove even though they only continued to shoot. But then, at a point when they were “safe”, that is, where they felt safe, they came out and understood what really happened… In the car where I was, in the car where I was, I was injured. I was wounded in my left leg… no, my right leg. In the other car was the uncle’s son who was eight and a half or nine years old, he was killed. He was killed on the spot. I knew that he was killed, there were bullets in his head, so when the car stopped he was already dead. His mother, my uncle’s wife, was also wounded on the left side near the chest, very close to the heart. In other words, there were three victims in this incident. But I was the easiest case of these three victims. Even at the beginning, they didn’t even notice that I was injured, because I was wearing, I don’t know, red pants or red socks, and they didn’t even notice that I was bleeding or anything. I know that my mom had my brother on her chest, and she saw that he had… he was… he was cut because when they were shooting…
\nInterviewer: They broke the windows.
\nUrtina Hoxha: … they broke the windows and the windows fell on our bodies and that’s how they were cut. Then, in a moment… I’m sorry, my throat got a little dry. … they broke the windows and the windows fell on our bodies and that’s how they were cut. Then, in a moment… I’m sorry, my throat got a little dry.
\nInterviewer: Then, you continued to the hospital?
\nUrtina Hoxha: Yes, but in a moment I told my mom that my leg hurts. And they saw that I am… I had wounds on my leg. After that, we continued to the hospital in Lezha, but because it was late, it was 11 o’clock or something, the hospital also had very few people, very few doctors, and very little hospital equipment. So, the situation was not very good. The rest of the family continued to Lezha, and the people who were not physically injured continued to Lezha to their aunt. Meanwhile, we who were physically injured, plus my mother who did not want to leave us alone, continued to the hospital in Lezha. They didn’t deal with me initially because I had minor injuries. The uncle’s wife had very serious injuries and lost a lot of blood from the place where it happened until she went to the hospital. So, they dealt more with her, and then they dealt with me. It was a moment that I remember as it was a bit more difficult. Because I remember, I don’t know maybe… since it happened…
\nInterviewer: The shootings.
\nUrtina Hoxha: \u00a0… but after the shootings happened, some… members of my family who were not physically injured continued and went to Lezha to my aunt’s. And those of us who were physically injured went to the Lezha hospital. My mother was with us, and being in the hospital is among my first memories because I wasn’t injured as much as the others were. They didn’t deal with me first. The few staff that were there went and dealt more with my uncle’s wife. Then they came to me. And you know, I remember it was a white room, it was a corner that… I was looking at the ceiling so, I remember that corner. And it seems to me, yes, at that moment they gave me the anesthesia that put me to sleep to undergo the surgery. I know that after it happened after they gave me the needle, I started losing consciousness, but I know that my mother left me, she went to see my uncle’s wife. I know I felt very alone. This is also a very bad memory that I have. Not only for this time, but somehow it is one of the worst memories I have. And I don’t know if I screamed but I have some kind of memory or a feeling that I screamed or I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. I remember that my mother left me alone and I felt very insecure and I felt very bad and then I lost consciousness. After that, during the night I don’t know when they operated on me. They removed the bullet from my leg. But, because I was very small, the bullet didn’t do much damage to me, it didn’t hurt my bones because the bones were very soft and they moved away from the distance, due to the speed of the bullet. Plus the bullet went through the car door before it got to me, so it wasn’t at full speed. The door has stopped its speed quite a lot … So, when it came to my leg, it stayed inside and didn’t explode my leg, it didn’t go through it. So that was a good thing that happened. Then, I don’t know for how long I stayed in the hospital. It seems to me that I haven\u2019t spent much time there. At least I didn’t. I know about my uncle’s wife she stayed a little longer in the hospital. I returned home… not at home, to the apartment that they rented, that was in Lezha. I returned, I know that every day a female doctor and a doctor had to come to clean my wound, to bind it with… to prevent it from getting infected so that my leg heals a little faster. It seems to me that this thing has lasted for three or four months. So they took care of me until I got a little better. Mom tells me that my leg was completely black because of the wound. These I don\u2019t… these are the things that I don\u2019t remember myself, but when they tell this story, they always tell that I was very stubborn and I didn’t let anyone touch my wound. I was very independent at that age. They also tell me that I tied my leg myself, I untied it myself, and I didn\u2019t want anyone else to touch it. Maybe I was scared because I was definitely in pain. But, my mom says that, for example, when I was sleeping, she had to straighten my leg because they were afraid that my leg would remain like that because I was then paranoid if… or to move it or whatever it had to do with that leg. Then, we stayed in Lezha for quite some time. I know the situation was very difficult, apart from us having injuries. I was the only child who had injuries, apart from my uncle’s son who died. The others did not have any physical injuries but were in a very bad emotional state. I know my sister had problems with… she was very scared, she couldn’t stay by herself, and the children were extremely terrorized. Even the older ones, of course, grown-up people who…
\nInterviewer: They experienced it all.
\nUrtina Hoxha: \u00a0… they experienced it all, they lost a grandson, son. My uncle’s wife was also in a pretty critical condition. She was in a serious condition. I mean, the situation was very, very bad at home. But, I was little and I don’t know about this thing, but all that bothered me was that I couldn’t go out to play. And I mean, they all went out to play in front of the apartment, they played with a ball, or whatever they were playing with, but I couldn’t go out because I couldn’t walk for several months. And that was my biggest worry and they told me that I cried so much and that I only wanted to go out to play, I didn’t care if I was injured or not, but I wanted to be a…
\nInterviewer: Have they seen you… have you ever had problems with your leg since then? I mean, after healing until today?
\nUrtina Hoxha: Yes, yes I still have. Especially when I was growing up at the time when your bones get longer. Then I had a lot of problems. Winter is pretty hard for me. It has always been. There were moments when I was in a lot of pain and I couldn’t even go to school. Also, the professors were not very understanding about the fact that I could not go to school. I know once, they called my mom and they said: if the child’s leg hurts a little, why do you need to stop her from coming to school? But I walk well, it’s not that I have… it’s not that you can notice that I have a wound on my leg. My leg is pretty normal. But I have problems, I have pain, especially when the weather changes when it gets cold. I can’t do some things, for example, I can’t run because it’s too painful it’s… I have great pain, for example, when I run or when I do some physical activities. But, I’m used to it, I don’t… you know, since I remember… since I remember myself, I remember this thing. So, it’s a very normal thing for me. I always know that when January comes, and also in February I always have pain in my leg. This condition has become normal to me. Maybe it shouldn’t be, but it’s now normalized…
\nInterviewer: Thank you very much.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Interviewer: Thank you very much Urtina. Shall we start telling the story from when the family decided to run away? Where have you been? How do you remember that period of time? Urtina Hoxha: Yes. We lived in Suhareka, in a two-story house. It was a pretty big house. In July 1998, the war […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2290,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions\/2290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumofrefugees-ks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}